Franklin Graham: Christians under attack, should engage in politics

Franklin Graham held a prayer rally at the Tennessee Capitol Legislative Plaza at noon on Tuesday.(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

Evangelist Franklin Graham said he believes Christianity has been attacked and marginalized by "anti-Christ" media and a liberal government and that it is time for Christians to become more active in politics.

Graham discussed faith, politics and religious liberty Tuesday in Nashville while touring Tennessee on "a call to prayer." Graham is the CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, named after his evangelist father, and the international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse.

"The only hope for our country is God, not the Republican Party, not the Democratic Party,” Graham said in a telephone interview with the USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee. “I wanted to encourage people to pray and vote, to encourage Christians to run for office.”

After a tour of all 50 state capitals last year, Graham chose Tennessee and Texas as two states for his 2017 Decision America Tour, a series of rallies where Graham urges attendees to engage in prayer, to accept Jesus Christ as savior, and now, to become more engaged with the secular process of politics as it impacts religious freedom.

In reaction to a decline in church attendance and what he described as a national move toward secularism, Graham said Christians who think they can continue to sit quietly in the pew will see the practice of their faith placed in jeopardy.

Graham highlighted the 2013 incident involving the Oregon bakery Sweet Cakes by Melissa as an example of a couple punished for their faith.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries ordered owners Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer $135,000 in damages after the pair refused to serve the soon-to-be-wed same-sex couple on the grounds of religious belief. The business eventually closed in 2016.

"This has been happening across the country," he said. "It’s increasing. We are going to be attacked. Let’s pray and get Christians involved in politics."

Graham said Christians may have found an unlikely champion for religious freedom in President Trump, who despite perceived flaws has kept his promises to fight for the cause.

Trump signed on executive order on May 4 which directed the Internal Revenue Service to not take "adverse action" against churches that participate in political activity, so long as those non-profits don't make political endorsements.

“He did everything wrong, offended almost every people group, but I believe he won because of God,” Graham said of Trump. “He wanted him in that position and (Trump’s) going to stay in that position until (God’s) vision is complete.”

Like Graham's 2016 visit to Nashville, most of his previous crusades have focused on rallies in larger cities. But Graham said for his latest call to action, the small community churches have to come together and grow the movement from the ground up.